Reader's Review: "Undying Light" by Aurora Wildey

Synopsis from Amazon:

A violent attack could have marked Kaela Morrow’s end, had Terran Montgomery not intervened. The mysterious stranger, with powers of his own, saves her but is badly wounded in the process. Fearing his injuries could prove fatal, Kaela risks everything and uses her powers of light to heal him.

If discovered, they would be hunted and killed. With their secrets and their lives in each other’s hands, Terran vows to keep her safe. With no other options, Kaela reluctantly agrees.

Yet there is another.

An immortal named Seth Lazarus senses Kaela’s presence as one of his own kind, the first newly born in millennia. After another attempt is made on her life, Seth offers Kaela refuge and a job to keep her close enough to protect her, while searching for a way to teach her about her true parentage. If only Terran were not standing in his way…

No one is what they seem. Danger is closing in from all sides. How can Kaela decide who to trust with her life… when the two men protecting her don’t even trust one another?

>>>>>>>>>>>

My Review:

A few times since starting this blog, I've been contacted by authors who want to send me copies of their books to review. Most of the time it's an open solicitation, sometimes I put my bid in and say I'm interested (and then proceed to not get around to reading it until years later...) but this was one of those times when the author herself requested my services. I opted to insert the book into my planned TBR, and when the time came, I read it. Fun fact: this is actually the closest to a book's release that I've ever actually been able to have a review ready, so YOU'RE WELCOME!!

This story managed to be interesting right from the very start. The first character you meet is definitely a werewolf, but Wildey manages to imply the fact, as he hunts and dispatches his quarry. The second character you meet is the female lead, and while she is a teenager with a unique superhuman ability, again Wildey lets the revelation unfold naturally, implying it all while presenting us with a perfectly normal teenage girl struggling with the loss of her mother and the subsequent emotional distance of her father. A third main character is introduced, and the overlap between the three characters becomes plain. The stage is set, and the intrigue begins!

Now, normally when a book has two male characters and a teenage female character at the forefront, the story might follow a predictable pattern: the female character has something that sets her apart from "other girls" and she is immediately smitten with one male character, while the other is more ardently pursuing her from the sidelines. The tension increases as she seems to be getting attention from someone she has no interest in, while the one she wants seems only to push her away. Purely based on their physical descriptions it becomes obvious which guy the author wants us to root for, which one the girl will inevitably end up with, despite any reader who forms an opinion to the contrary...

To be honest, I spent the first few chapters waiting for it to do just that so I could cringe and move on--but then I was just so fascinated by the side characters and intrigued by the actual story, that I just kept right on reading!

Kaela's story twists and tangles itself around the two strangers who enter her life and become intrinsically involved with just about every part of it--meanwhile side characters give actual stakes to the characters, provide an extra dimension to keep them from being too entangled with just themselves, and add their own splash of color to the plot, besides! Undying Light sustained my interest all the way through, keeping me interested as Kaela's life is threatened by a known criminal, thus making it necessary to move her somewhere safe--a haven both Terran and Seth are only too willing to provide, at the exclusion of each other. On top of that Kaela has her own secret that she's been keeping from everyone around her... except Terran, who finds out, and Seth, who knows more about Kaela's origins than even she does. And that is only the beginning!

Undying Light is an excellent start to a series, sets up plenty of material to explore, and does a good job letting the reader become acquainted with the characters, so that watch their stories unfold feels natural and organic, and we're picking our own sides, as opposed to whatever side the author picks for us! In light of all that, I rate it a solid *****4.5 STARS***** (less half a star because of the threads that were left incomplete by the end of the story!) and I can't wait to see how the Stella Maris series develops from here!

Further Reading: (Urban Fantasy/Balanced Heroines)

The Vemreaux Trilogy--Mary E. Twomey
       -The Way 
       -The Truth 
       -The Lie

The Red Dog Conspiracy--Patricia Loofbourrow
       -Gutshot (Novellette) 

       -The Alcatraz Coup (Novella) 
       -Vulnerable (Short Story) 
       -Jacq of Spades 
       -Queen of Diamonds 
       -Ace of Clubs

The Fair Folk Chronicles--Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins
        -Foul is Fair 
        -Street Fair 
        -A Fair Fight 
        -All's Fair

The Firebird Fairy Tales--Amy Kuivalainen
       -The Cry of the Firebird 
       -Ashes of the Firebird 
       -Rise of the Firebird 

Talented Series--Amy Hopkins
     -A Drop of Dream 
     -A Dash of Fiend 
     -A Splash of Truth 
     -A Promise Due

-The Purple Door District--Erin Casey

-Anamatus--Derrick Tribble

-The Wendy--Erin Michelle Sky